A years-in-the-works plan to build America's largest oil-by-rail terminal, on the Columbia River in Vancouver, Washington, was given a unanimous thumbs-down on Tuesday by the state's energy siting council.
The recommendation by the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) is just that. The final decision rests with Gov. Jay Inslee, a close ally of the environmental groups and Democratic activists who have fought building the terminal at the Port of Vancouver. The group Vancouver Energy, a consortium of oil giant Tesoro Corp. and transportation firm Savage Cos., wanted to build a $210 million terminal that would receive as many as 300,000 barrels of oil a day.
The oil would cross Washington in mile-long (and longer) trains, completing its journey by passing through the Columbia Gorge.